Nivkh alphabets
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Nivkh alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Nivkh language. During its existence, it functioned on different graphic bases and was reformed several times. Currently, Nivkh writing functions in Cyrillic. There are 3 stages in the history of Nivkh writing:
- before the beginning of the 1930s - the preliterate period;
- 1931-1937 - writing on a Latin basis;
- since 1953 - writing based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
According to a study conducted in 1929, the Nivkhs of the lower Amur River had the rudiments of pictographic writing. It was used only to decorate wooden utensils used during the "bear holidays". At these holidays, bear meat was served in wooden ladles, on which images of a bear were applied, as well as symbols indicating the hunting season, the number of bears killed, their gender and age, the number of hunters and other circumstances of the hunt.[1]
Until 1930, no attempts were made to create a real writing system for the Nivkhs. In 1884, the Orthodox Missionary Society published in Kazan the «Гольдскую азбуку для обучения гольдских и гилякских детей» ("Goldes alphabet for teaching Goldes and Gilyak children" - Goldes is an outdated name for the Nanai, Gilyak is an outdated name for the Nivkhs), but all the texts in this alphabet were in the Nanai language. Attempts to apply such an alphabet for the Nivkh language, which is not related to Nanai, can only be considered as a curiosity.[1]
The first experiments in recording the Nivkh language in writing date back to the end of the 19th century: a number of researchers (N. L. Zeland, Leopold von Schrenck, Lev Sternberg) compiled Nivkh dictionaries and recorded some texts. Both Cyrillic and Latin alphabet were used in such records.[2]
Latin alphabet
| External image | |
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 ABC-book by E. A. Kreinovich in the Nivkh language made in the Latin alphabet. 1936 |
In 1931, during the campaign to create a written language for the peoples of the Far North and Far East of the USSR, Kreinovich, Erukhim Abramovich developed the Nivkh alphabet on a Latin basis. According to the original design, it included the letters A a, B в, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ə ə, F f, G g, H h, Ꜧ ꜧ, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, O o, P p, Q q, R r, Ŗ ŗ, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, V v, X x, Z z, Ь ь.[3] However, in February 1932, the following adaptation of the Unified Northern Alphabet was approved instead:[1]
| A a | B в | C c | D d | D̦ d̦ | E e | Ə ə | F f | G g |
| H h | Ꜧ ꜧ | I i | J j | K k | Kʻ kʻ | L l | M m | N n |
| Ņ ņ | Ŋ ŋ | O o | P p | Pʻ pʻ | Q q | Qʻ qʻ | R r | Rʻ rʻ |
| S s | T t | Ț ț | Tʻ tʻ | U u | V v | X x | Z z |
A comma under the letter meant palatalization. In the same year, the primer "Cuzd̦if" was published in this alphabet, followed by other publications. The literary language was based on the Amur dialect.[1] For a short time in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, the newspaper "Nivxgu mәkәr-qlaj-d̦if" ("The Nivkh truth") was published in this alphabet.